In today's complex digital communications systems, it is becoming extremely complex and expensive, to develop the full range of transmission interfaces defined for these systems. Additionally, each type of transmission interface can be supported at different operational levels. Consequently, it is common practice in such digital communications systems to provide a particular type of transmission interface and only basic operational support for it. Therefore, further development would be required to enhance the level of operational support for the particular transmission interface. This in turn, adds to both the cost and time required to provide the enhanced operational support for each type of transmission interface.
One particular telecommunications management network that is advantageously used to automatically maintain identity information of network elements in a centralized database and to automatically distribute identity information of all the related network elements is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/990,743 filed concurrently herewith. In the noted telecommunications management network a so-called "Directory Services Network Element" (DSNE) is employed to maintain and distribute the network element identity information. Each network element including the DSNE in the telecommunications management network operates as a logically separable entity from an Operations, Administration, Maintenance and Provisioning (OAM&P) standpoint. Externally observable OAM&P behavior that indicates that a particular network element is a separable entity includes:
A. Changes in the status of the particular network element are communicated to all other network elements in a sub-network including the particular network element;
B. Alarm conditions are reported to one or more Operations Systems by the particular network element; and
C. Craft interface commands to effect the operation of the particular network element are addressed to it.
Therefore, while attempts may be made to support new transmission interfaces in the DSNE by interfacing the DSNE with particular types of network elements that perform conversions from a transmission interface supported by the DSNE into new transmission interfaces to be supported, such interfaces will appear as a combination of separable network elements from an OAM&P perspective and will not present the desired single, integrated appearance required to achieve the goal of supporting new transmission interfaces in the DSNE.